A letter from New Orleans
By Robert Sargent, Jr.
web posted September 12, 2005
Are all my millions of conservative readers sick of hearing
President Bush "blamed" for what went wrong with the relief
effort in New Orleans? Are all my millions of liberal readers sick
of hearing Mayor Nagin, Gov. Blanco and Senator Landriau
"blamed" for what went wrong with the first response? Read on.
A friend of mine forwarded an email sent to him and some other
friends from a James O'Brien, an active duty Air Force pilot
assigned to the Tennessee Air National Guard. Mr. O'Brien has
returned from duty in Iraq, and when his squadron (105th AS)
was asked to aid in the relief effort, "we gladly accepted." A
native of San Antonio, TX, and a graduate from the Air Force
Academy, Mr. O'Brien has written an eloquent, and inspiring
account of the relief effort, an account that should be read by
everyone. I present it here in its entirety:
Hi everyone,
I just returned from New Orleans on a hurricane relief mission in
the C-130. Let me just start by saying I was awed. Not in what I
saw in destruction and devastation because I had/have already
seen enough of that on TV. What really hit me hard was the
absolute determination and willingness of all those involved in the
relief effort. I just want to quickly tell you what I was a part of
and what I witnessed as it just really filled me with pride and
reminded me again why we are such an amazing and successful
country.
It started when I showed up for the flight in Nashville. Instead of
the flight planning I would normally do (the other pilot did it), I
was tasked to call all 60 or so of the pilots from the 105th Airlift
Squadron (my squadron) and find out their availability to fly
hurricane relief missions. Now, don't forget these are all Air
National Guard men and women and most all have full time jobs
outside of flying for the Guard. Almost without exception, every
pilot offered whatever assistance was needed. No surprise.
I then jumped in the airplane and flew directly to New Orleans
Int'l, which was and is only open to relief efforts. We had on
board with us an aero medical evacuation team. They are a
group of highly trained nurses and med techs that are qualified in
evacuating wounded and sick soldiers from the battlefield and
keeping them alive enroute to a medical facility.
One of the many missions of the C-130 is basically a flying
hospital. We can literally set up an intensive care unit in the back
if needed. So, with our team of aero meds and flight crew on
board, we set course for New Orleans with the rough idea that
we would transport injured and sick people to Elington Field,
TX (Houston, TX). From there we would fly to Alexandria, LA,
Charlotte, and then back to Nashville. Our mission ended up
evacuating one of the VA hospitals' patients as well as several
civilians.
The weather was not great once we neared New Orleans. We
made it in and were met by an airport SUV that led us to what is
normally an airline passenger gate. The difference was the gates
housed medical teams (mainly military that had just arrived) and
scores of sick refugees (for lack of better term). We squeezed
ourselves into a parking spot perpendicular to a C-141 and next
to two C-17's. There were other Air Force planes on the ground
as well. By the time we finally left, five other C-130's and
another C-17 had joined us.
What happened next just really made my heart swell with pride.
From every direction and in about 15 to 45 second intervals,
helicopter after helicopter continued to land right next to us. It
was a mix of Army Blackhawks, Coast Guard helicopters as
well as Marine and Army. They were joined by what must have
been 15 "Flight for Life" helicopters from hospitals all around the
Southeast. I saw Miami, Arkansas, and many other names
painted on the sides. This was not normal operations. These
pilots were practically landing and taxing on top of each other.
They came in fully loaded with sick personnel. Many right from
the rooftops. One New Orleans Airport fireman took on the
duty of aircraft marshaller and marshaled in choppers left and
right. The helos would unload and then take right back off. It
was not uncommon for a helicopter to be on the ground less than
two to three minutes and then blast back off.
We were basically parked in the triage area. These helicopters
were immediately met by ground personnel who helped the
people off the helos and if they couldn't walk, they put them on a
stretcher or just flat carried them. What makes it so
extraordinary is when I realize that these ground personnel were
just the airport workers, airline employees, cart drivers, fireman,
and then the staff of all the emergency teams. It was amazing.
They were not necessarily trained for the jobs they were/are
undertaking. They just stepped up to the plate and did it.
The tower and ground controllers were coordinating airplanes
and helicopters like they had never imagined in their most terrible
nightmares and were doing a very good job of it. There were
literally so many helicopters coming in and out of the triage area
that I do not understand how the tower guy could see through
them all to control the planes once they landed.
The little baggage trailers and tugs that you normally see zipping
around the airport were being used to move survivors out to the
airplanes. They can best be described as mini ambulances. The
terminals at the airport were triage and staging areas. The airport
vehicles that are usually operated by airport managers and
security were leading airplanes and helicopters to newly created
parking spaces. Then the huge thunderstorm hit to make matters
even worse. Thunder, lightening, and driving rain pounded the
airport and surrounding area for over 1.5 hours.
The helicopter pilots and crews never stopped. Everyone was so
determined and working with such purpose. I literally watched
this one helicopter bring people in and then leave again for
another load four times in the 1.5 hour long torrential rain storm.
This pace was not uncommon.
Another thing that exemplified the unselfishness of the rescuers
was this one old and worn out red and white helicopter. It
looked like something that does heavy lifting for construction up
on mountains. Basically, it did not look like one that was
designed to carry people and conduct search and rescue. From
all I can tell, it was just a privately owned helicopter that the two
pilots decided they were going to make work for this. I still
remember the pilot in the left seat. He just had on jeans, tennis
shoes and some kind of old shirt. He was a little overweight, but
you could just see the determination and purpose on his face as
he brought that big helo in run after run after run.
Don't misinterpret what I am describing. The military guys were
doing this too, but I did not expect this from some private
company or individual.
It just was incredible. Absolutely incredible. There is no way the
helos should have been flying in this weather. If this was just
some regular mission or training flight, you can bet your kids
Super Play Station that they would not have been flying. It would
have been easier and probably safer to floss a shark's teeth them
to have gotten these guys to stop flying.
The same thing went for everyone working to organize and
evacuate the sick, hurt, and elderly inside the airport. The
process was a little slower than ideal, but it is a massive
undertaking not ever encountered by the agencies initially put in
charge. Long story short, the Air Force medical teams got in
there and got the ball rolling. As we left, a medical evacuation
command post was coming on line, which will significantly speed
up the process of bringing people into the airport and then
putting them on planes to fly out.
Another one of our Nashville C-130's was on the ground with
us. They received their patients first. Once they could not
physically fit anymore on their plane, they left and we took the
next group. Our aero med team and flight crew just started
helping the people who could barely walk onto the plane and
assisted in the loading of stretchers.
Back to selflessness, we were also joined by two doctors who
had been assisting in all the relief efforts at Tulane Hospital. They
decided to go on the flight with us. One was an MD in his 7th
year of surgery residency and the other was an MD who worked
full time at Tulane hospital. They had been working nonstop
since the hurricane. Another resident MD told me how after the
hurricane hit he had to go home and get some sleep. He awoke
to rising water at his place, so he got in his kayak and paddled
down the street, past looting, which he said was very unnerving,
and into Tulane hospital where he has been working ever since.
The great American spirit is indeed alive and well.
We ended up taking 20 patients on litters (military for stretcher)
and 31 people (not healthy at all) that could sit up for a total of
51 to Elington Field, TX. We arrived there and were met by
what can only be described as an eye watering reception. We
called the field 20 minutes out and let them know we would be
landing shortly and passed on our patient information.
Well, let me tell you something. As we taxied in I looked
towards our parking spot and I must have counted 30
ambulances and a line of hospital workers/volunteers with
wheelchairs at the ready lined up 50 deep. There was another
equally long line of paramedics with gurneys. These people had it
together. We shut down engines and then watched as Elington's
smooth operation kicked into gear. The sickest of the sick were
rushed to hospitals. Everyone else was given food, cold drinks,
seen by a social worker, doctor, and other specialists. Then, one
of the head NASA people there gave me his car to go to Jack in
the Box to get food for the crew.
Incredible!
By this time we were running out of our 16 hour crew day and
we still had two more stops. Unfortunately, we couldn't get to it
all as we had to head right back to Nashville, but another crew
picked up the mission.
I will be doing missions similar to this one tomorrow (Fri) and
Saturday. Our Guard Base (TN Air National Guard) is flying six
of our eight or nine airplanes out tomorrow in direct support of
rescue operations. We plan on doing this for the foreseeable
future.
Overall, I cannot do justice to all the good I saw today just by
writing. I wanted to try though. Basically, the operation set up
down there at the New Orleans Airport is one eerily similar to
that of Baghdad Int'l airport when I was there for over eight
months. Just a hive of activity with people pushing their bodies
and aircraft to the max. No one complains, they just get the job
done and worry about the rest later. Every citizen of this country
should be so proud of what their fellow citizens are doing for
each other. The pressure they are working under knowing these
sick and stranded people do not have time on their side is
unexplainable. Our country is one of great strength and
determination. It is evident in all the rescue and relief efforts that
are taking place down there. If the hard work and pure grit of all
the rescue and medical personnel I witnessed today are of any
indication of the eventual outcome of this indescribable tragedy,
then we are on the absolute fast track to victory.
I just want to add one more thing. I did not write this all out to
highlight myself. In fact it is quite the contrary. I want all of you to
know the efforts that are being made from the individual level to
the highest level of government. Nothing is being held back. I just
happen to fly an airplane from one field to another and am very
happy to do it.
Please say some extra prayers for all of those suffering due to
hurricane Katrina and for all of those working to save lives and
rebuild a city. Talk to ya'll soon and have a great day.
James
Robert S. Sargent, Jr. is a senior writer for Enter Stage Right
and can be reached at rssjr@citcom.net.
Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com